This time last year, Bligg seemed to be talking an awful lot about growing old and being a dad. He said his priorities had changed. Withdrawing from the limelight, he had apparently developed a taste for travel – and for kicking back on the sofa. When the “Tradition” album dropped, it was rumoured that it was probably the final LP of the Zurich rapper’s long career. But no sooner had the dust settled than Bligg’s next record was out this autumn. And this one is different. On “Tavolata”, the rapper looks back on his own music, presenting a body of work that spans over two decades. But “Tavolata” is not your usual best-of album. All the tracks are new versions of his old songs.
Bligg has covered his hits in collaboration with folk music combo Helen Maier & The Folks. Favourites like “Rosalie”, “Musigg i dä Schwiiz” and “Legändä & Heldä” have now been put to accordion, keyboard and strings. They suddenly sound like tunes from Ireland, Scandinavia or the Balkans.
“Weisch no euses erschte Mol Sex zu Barry White?” [“Remember the first time we made out to Barry White?”] Bligg sings raspily in his remake of the 2008 song “Signal”, sipping a glass of red wine in the video. Acoustic instruments give a tastefully stripped down, direct feel to the composition. Bligg’s reworking of 2001 dance rap single “Alles scho mal ghört” [Heard it all before] features a drum machine but is again inspired by folk music. The same applies to the erstwhile hip-hop of “Mosaik” with unplugged sound replacing the airy keyboard arrangements of the original. Violins, mandolins, double bass, and more violins – this is the essence of “Tavolata”.
Bligg’s old hits work really well as folk songs, you have to give the 48-year-old vocalist that. But it is probably not the most original album. It would be more interesting to know whether Bligg has now hung up his microphone for good. As a playful retrospective, “Tavolata” is actually a fitting way to round off an impressive career and say farewell.
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